Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Coconut Thumbrint Cookies with Mango-Ginger-Lime Jam

Last week, my friend Lindsay sent me a couple of jars of her preserves: a raisin chutney (yum! I have a cheese platter calling its name) and a mango-lime-ginger jam of her own creation.

Now, I love tropical flavours, and I adore mango, so I was super excited to try it out.

And, it was delicious. As always.

But, if you're simply eating your preserves on toast, you're really missing out on half the fun of a jar of great jam. I was in a baking mood and knew that I wanted something tropical but easy. Thumbprints seemed to be the way to go.

1. Preheat oven to 300º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat baking mat.

2. Cream together butter and sugar. Once light and fluffy, add in vanilla and egg yolk. Blend. Then add in flour, mixing until combined.

3. Roll the dough into 20 balls and place on baking sheet. These cookies won't spread too much, so you don't need too much room between them.

4. Place beaten egg white in one shallow dish and coconut into another. Working with one ball at a time, roll dough first into egg white, then into coconut. Place each back onto the baking sheet.

Once all balls are covered with coconut, make an indent in the centre of each, using your thumb (hence the name thumbprint cookies). This little well will be where you put the jam.

5. Spoon ¼-½ tsp jam into the well of each cookie. Be careful not to overfill the centres; you don't want the jam to leak out all over the cookie sheet. It has a tendency to burn then.

Take a moment to admire all those cookies with jewel-like toppings. You're a genius!

6. Bake in oven for about 25 minutes, or until just lightly golden and firm to the touch. Because we have a temperamental oven, I started keeping a close eye on mine at about the 20 minute mark and they were finished at 27 minutes. Remove to rack and let cool.